Ehsan Masood

Ehsan Masood (born August 1967) is a science writer, journalist and broadcaster. He is the editor of Research Fortnight and Research Europe and teaches international science policy at Imperial College London.

Biography

Born in London in 1967, his father Hassan Masood worked in actuarial science and his mother Shamsa Masood is a writer of short fiction in Urdu. He went to schools in York, Karachi and London; studied applied physics at Portsmouth Polytechnic and science communication at Birkbeck, University of London.

He worked for the journal Nature as a writer from 1995 to 1999 and again as acting chief commissioning editor in 2008/2009. He has also worked as Opinion Editor of New Scientist and communications director at LEAD International.

He has also written for Prospect magazine and Opendemocracy.net, as well as The Times, The Guardian and Le Monde. He is a trustee of Leadership for Environment and Development and also advises the British Council on science and on cultural relations.

Ehsan Masood is a regular contributor to Home Planet, an environmental affairs programme on BBC Radio 4 in the UK.

Selected publications

Ehsan Masood's latest book is Science and Islam: A History. This tells the story of how science developed during Islam's imperial period from 800 to 1500. It is the official tie-in to a three-part documentary series on BBC Television presented by Jim Al-Khalili, Professor of Physics at the University of Surrey.

His other publications include:

• Our Shared Europe This is a report for a major new British Council programme of activities aimed at reducing mistrust between non-Muslim and Muslim communities.
• Dry: Life Without Water, Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press 2006 ISBN 0-674-02224-6 (editor with Daniel Schaffer)
• How Do You Know? Reading Ziauddin Sardar on Islam, Science and Cultural Relations, London: Pluto Press 2006 ISBN 074-53-2514-9 (editor)
• British Muslims: Media Guide, published by the British Council in association with the Association of Muslim Social Scientists, 2006. Download a copy of British Muslims: Media Guide here
• The GM Debate: Who Decides? Analysing Decision-making on Genetically Modified Crops in Developing Countries, London: Panos 2005

In the media

• In February 2009, Ehsan Masood presented a three-part series for BBC Radio 4 entitled Islam and Science
• Ehsan Masood is a regular panellist on BBC Radio 4's environmental affairs programme Home Planet
• Islam's reformers, Prospect article by Ehsan Masood republished on Wanabehuman.
• Science, Development, Faith Ehsan's Open Democracy columns
• Islam and Science Special issue of Nature, November 2006
• Ehsan Masood talks about Dry: Life Without Water on Start the Week on BBC Radio 4, 29 May 2006
• Televised discussion on climate security at Carleton University, Canada with John Ashton, Simon Dalby and hosted by Ken Rockburn of CPAC's Talk Politics show, February 2007

External links

• Research Fortnight, UK's leading source of news and data on research funding and policy
• LEAD International, non-profit sustainable development training and networking organization